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Showing posts from 2011

Honest Holiday Feelings

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As I sit here and listen to "I'm dreaming of a white Christmas," I sweat and look at the palm trees in my backyard. As I read people's status & see pictures on Facebook, fall leaves, cooler weather, special Christmas coffees, pretty wrapping paper, yummy holiday desserts, I sweat and look at my palm trees and am reminded just how far away I am from all I've known, from all that makes holidays, holidays. In most of my posts & articles, I try to be encouraging, sharing what the Lord is doing in my life, but today I am just going to be honest. I am having a hard time. This marks our third holiday season here in the Philippines. As Thanksgiving is not a celebrated holiday here and fall does not exist, I have tried my best to make things fally. As Christmas approaches, rainy season ends and hot season bursts forth full blast. For some reason this year, it has just been harder than previous years being away from "home." Little frustrations such as not

Pull-My-Hair Out Days

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Today has just been one of those days... Amoeba I was up all night with Josh as he was running fever, sweating, and going back and forth to the bathroom. We were supposed to have a flight this morning, so my morning started at 5:00 with texting to say that we would have to cancel the flight. My kids got up at their normal time of 6:30 just after I had got back to sleep. I headed to the hospital with Josh as soon as he woke up and the final verdict is amoeba. For those of you who don't know, amoeba is single-celled organism that you ingest by drinking contaminated water or food. We're not sure where he got it. Elsie, our house-helper, left to go up and visit her family for a few days, so my kids have been out of sorts without her here. I have been out of sorts without her here. I have another lady here to help with the kids, but she isn't as familiar with their routine. When I took Josh to the hospital this morning, I came home to huge messes and crackers smashed all

A Dalton Summer

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I guess technically, it never ceases to be summer here. That's one thing I think I will never really like- knowing that fall and winter will never come. It has been a lovely, but busy summer. After flying the wings off the plane (not really) in June and a much needed two week break, things have simmered down a bit to a much more sane schedule. We went on our first family vacation ever for a weekend to a gorgeous beach resort here on our island. We spent hours in the pool and on the beach, taking naps, building sandcastles and drinking yummy shakes. It was so good to not have texts coming in non-stop and be away from the busyness of everyday life. We celebrated my 28th (ah!!!) birthday in July. The kids picked out presents for me from a little souvenir shop and did quite a good job at that. I have a special flower ring from Little Josh that warms my heart everytime I look at it. He checks everyday to see if I am wearing it. On my birthday Izzy & I We'

When He is Gone...

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Whether he is actually gone on a trip, working 70-80 hour work-weeks, or home, but "not really there", how do you cope? Josh has been working with a friend on the airplane all week long and we basically have said "Hi" and "Bye." The last few months have been like this with hardly one day break in between. I naturally find myself just planning everyday as if he will not be there or involved at all. Do you find yourself getting lonely? Do you just throw in the towel and decide to let your house go and your kids scream or do you micro-manage even more? My honey-do list just gets longer everyday and I find myself trying to tackle some of the things on it myself.  This is definitely a learning and stretching time and a time of constantly relying on the Lord. It has helped me to come to know that Lord more as a friend and companion. I know a lot of you know where I am coming from and I was just curious as to how the Lord has shown you how to deal with this.

A Very Long Time...

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So it's been almost a year since I posted. It has been a crazy, crazy year. A couple moves later, I feel like I am finally settled enough to maybe keep up my blog. I've gone back and forth on whether or not I should actually have one- if I have enough to write about and if what I write would be interesting to anyone. But, sometimes just unloading how I'm feeling or how my day was is the only way I can de-stress. All that to say, I will be posting more often. :) So check back if you feel like it or want to know what God is doing in our lives over here in the Philippines.